The invention relates generally to drinking straws and to pop-up straws for beverage containers.
A pop-up straw for beverage cans has been described in Patent No. 4,356,927, but the use of that straw requires a removeable tab on the top wall of the can. A plurality of accordian pleats which are upwardly tilted to form air traps or are compressed so as to urge the upper end of a straw in an upward direction. The patent also describes rounded guides which extend from one end of a sidewall which is rolled and seamed.
Difficulties exist in that prior art in that most cans are made with a deep drawing process in which it is difficult to form guides on a sidewall. Many state laws require that tabs of easy open ends remain attached to the container after the container is opened. Consequently many cans have tabs which are pushed downward into the can as the can is opened. The use of such downward opening cans would tend to misalign the straws of Patent No. 4,356,927 with the openings which would tend to render those straws unuseable.
In the aforesaid patent a compressed straw is held between a groove in the can bottom and a downward dimple in the detachable tab. Aligning the straw filling and closing of the can may be extremely difficult. In another embodiment of the patent guides formed from tongues at edges of seamed cans are difficult to provide because seamed cans are not in wide use. The trapping of air in particular formed corregations may be extremely difficult.
Problems remain in the prior art which are solved by the present invention.